


Blind confidence

by Crisegna, grishae



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blind Character, Blind Ignis, Brotherhood, Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV, Brotherly Bonding, Brothers, Eventual Fluff, Light Angst, Male Friendship, Multi, OT4, One Shot, Other, Worried Noctis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 01:47:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10064003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crisegna/pseuds/Crisegna, https://archiveofourown.org/users/grishae/pseuds/grishae
Summary: Ignis lost his eyesight as a result of his loyalty to his prince. It was not a choice to wonder if it was worth it at all —Noctis was his friend as well as his future King, and the rest of his mates were alive since Leviathan's battle in Altissia. Ignis' daily actions became more complicated to accomplish, such as cooking and fighting against daemons in a world infested by them.But things really got complicated when his blindness started to cause trouble between his beloved companions.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! First of all, we want to explain very briefly something funny while we're writing this short story...
> 
> Take that: crisegna was writing Gladio's lines (in a certain moment of the fic) when it comes Noctis' turn to reply them... so kairoos took Noctis' role to write them and it was the MOST fluent conversation of all the fic. For sure, it was kind of a 'roleplaying' as we were replying simultaneously! it was hilarious and we enjoyed the most their dialogues. The prince and his shield always complaining.. hah. Besides, this often happens when you're co-writing with a friend :))
> 
>  
> 
> So enjoy the fic! We're about to write more advertures of this four awesome boys if you're interested tho...

Ignis didn't really have to wear his glasses. A sixth sense made him think about it — what on Eos would bring his sight back? He wasn't hopeless. In fact, he was realistic. He was still wearing his glasses to cover up his scars, injured eyes unable to see anymore. He acknowledged he had to get used to his new life. If not, he wouldn’t get to be around his friends anymore. Not the way he wanted, at least. He wanted to fight alongside them, to guide them when things couldn’t get any worse.

In the beginning, days were tough for everybody. Whenever they were about to enter a dungeon or a tower, his friends would ask him “What do you want to do?”. Of course, Ignis wouldn’t say the very first thing that would come up his mind, which was “I’m gladly going with you even if it’s the last thing I do”. Rather, he’d say “What your Highness considers better”. Needless to say, they didn’t leave him alone. Ever. His lack of vision was an obstacle when he had to face daemons. He would avoid closeness with the enemy and instead he’d command his friends so that they could hit them right in the spot.

 

· · ·

 

But that wasn’t enough. He somehow managed to convince Gladio to aim him with a new kind of battle training. As the King’s Shield had trained Noctis several times, he thought it was the best option for now. The first day of training, Gladio still looked reluctant whenever he had to swing his sword towards Ignis. He could feel it, the way Gladio hesitated when Ignis was close to get hit, which made him feel more miserable.

 “I’m afraid nobody is going to improve here if you don’t prove to be a challenge”, said the strategist. Nevertheless, Gladio didn't want to hurt Ignis' ego as much as he didn't want to make him bleed. One mistake would determine another terrible scar for him. So they tried to find another perspective. As Ignis had lost the sense of his surroundings, Gladio would test him by making him more aware of every change in the air that resulted from his movements. Sometimes, he would trip over his own two feet and, surprisingly, Gladio wouldn’t help him get up again. Ignis didn’t feel worthless when that happened. On the contrary, he thanked him with a contagious grin that determined Gladio to continue with the training.  

 

· · ·

 

Despite of being blind, Ignis had the uncontrollable need to feed his friends. Proclaimed the official cooker of the group —or _the mother_ , as Prompto had always been suggesting back then, Ignis never stopped wondering about new recipes. His sense of smell was overdeveloped due to his motherly condition, but from now on he thought he could take advantage of it. But that's easier said than done because Ignis injured his hands several times as he boiled water and practiced cutting vegetables. Still, Ignis didn’t feel like giving up on Noctis eating healthy or letting Gladio eat every noodle provision of Lucis. In a way, he had responsibilities to take care of. Through trial and error, Ignis would improve himself.

 Meanwhile, his poor fellas would find irregular slices in their meals and their portions would be more or less salty than others. Spices were extremely dangerous.

 "Whoa, tonight's meal is on its perfection! Not salty at all," congratulated Prompto, taking less sips of Jetty’s to refresh his tongue. Indeed, Ignis was adapting to his circumstances.

 "Hell yeah," agreed Noctis. He rarely said something else as he was afraid of messing the thing up.

 Gladio nodded. He was busy helping Noctis to separate the vegetables he disliked the most.

 “Gladio, you are not putting aside Noctis’ vegetables, correct?”, Ignis didn’t expect Noctis eating them, truth be told.

 "No way", the guilty ones nearly choked.

 "Dude, Iggy has superpowers or something”, Prompto freaked out and dropped some vesproom from his spoon.

 Ignis sighed. “I must have achieved something positive about my new condition, at last”

 “Iggy…” Gladio stopped indulging Noctis and felt speechless.

 “No, Gladio. I didn’t mean to sound so pessimistic, my apologies.”

 "You're still the best cook, right?" Prompto made a noise with his spoon. "Nobody here can cook ‘Green Soup Curry’ as pro as you!"

 "Neither ‘Memory Lane Pastry’" Noctis smiled. Ignis believed so.

 “I appreciate that”. What would he even do without them?

 

· · · 

 

 Since Ignis had lost his sight, he assured he wouldn't like things to change completely. Not even the most tiny ritual as it could be talking about Prompto's photos after having lunch at the end of the day. Of course, he wasn't able to see their funny poses nor their shiny faces once again in a photo. He suspected they were dulled as a consequence of his tragedy. But he wanted them to go on with their routines.

 "Do I appear in any of them?" he asked politely.

 "Yeah, of course you do" Noctis replied.

 "As classy as always, Iggy" Prompto was passing his camera to his friends. Ignis felt overwhelmed when it was on his. His fingers touched the camera's buttons, guided by intuition and memory. "Classy. Elegant. Classy. Oh, classy once again. What a level!" the photographer showed him in how many photos he appeared.

 "Tell me more, please"

 At any given moment, he could feel his friends' breath near him. They had dragged their chairs and sat nearby.  

 “Here Noctis is rockin’ a new pose” Gladio chuckled and Noctis punched his shoulder. Ignis heard that and the four of them smiled.

 “I call it ‘Ultimate Pose’” Noctis muttered.

 “How could I imitate your incredible pose, Noct?”

 “Cover your face as if everything around you was inappropriate for a prince,” he described, obviously exaggerating things a little bit.

 "How arrogant”, said Gladio.

 "Ignis asked", replied Noctis shrugging his shoulders.

 “And here“ Prompto was laughing out loud. “Gladio looks like a barramundi after getting confused by an oculus”. He almost couldn’t breathe.

 “In fact, it actually was an oculus, “ Noctis enjoyed his revenge.

 “I can recall the moment, yes”.

 Everyone laughed except for Gladio. Well, he _smiled_ a bit. “You guys are dead”

 Even though it was nice to imagine such situations, Ignis knew there were a lot of awesome photos he was missing.

 

 · · ·

 

Things got complicated when it came about going through steep places. Ignis’ cane was his physical pilar, but it was Prompto’s help, the emotional one. “Go on your own pace,” the blonde said. Ignis knew Noctis had to lead the way and the more spirited they walk, the more faster he could get used to it.  

 Stony paths were Ignis’ ultimate enemy as they were a lot of little rocks causing difficulties for its feet to be firm. Gladio had been cursing at every single time Ignis fell down —not because he was sick of his clumsiness, he already knew that. It was due to his constant and easily rivalry with their prince. Ignis didn’t blame none of them. Lunafreya’s loss caused a heavy impact on Noctis mood alongside Ignis’ tragedy. The most suitable thing he could do was to carry on.

 “Is it too much to ask for your Highness to mind his speed?" Gladio insisted on being together. "His subjects are having several troubles"

 "You're the big problem here, anyways" Noctis didn't bite his tongue. He couldn’t stand the tone he used.

 “Don’t get me started” the King’s Shield growled.

 “That’s enough, boys” Ignis had said to himself not to raise his voice ever again, not after the incident on the train. Instead, he could feel Prompto’s grip getting tighter.

 A few minutes later, an order was given by Noctis. "Watch out!" The metallic sound of their weapons drew echoed the mountain. The prince recognized he had to describe how the enemy was. Ignis was the person in charge of figuring out the weakness of them. “It's a gurangatch!” Noctis shouted then. Ignis knew these kind of creatures lived nearby lakes and rivers, so he had an idea of what they were facing.

 Prompto hesitated about firing the first shot, as it always was. “Go ahead“ assured Ignis, “let the daemon be your only concern”. He brandished his daggers and clenched his legs, ready to fight. The sounds of the imminent battle were his day by day. It was time to bring to light his brand new training. He analyzed the scenario. Despite of the crazy movements his companions were doing in order to dodge the gurangatch, Ignis knew where everyone was thanks to little nuances each of them had. Noctis almost never touched the ground, but he could feel the electricity he created. Gladio’s steps were fierce so that he could hit with full strength. And, although Prompto was the lighter of them all, Ignis could count on the noise his guns made.

 “Incoming!“ Noctis said. And his warning sentenced Ignis as he got used at the uniqueness of the beast. He skipped a beat when his foot hardly touched solid ground, just on the edge of the cliff. The ground trembled when Gladio executed his powerful attack with his broadsword. Prompto never stopped shooting, drilling the enemy's coverage. Ignis could barely feel Noctis' presence, as the power of the Lucis aimed him to travel at the speed of light. It was a priority to avoid the edge, but the tremor was not helpful. Ignis lost his balance and stayed on the ground, sinking his nails to the earth. The daemon took advantage of Ignis’ misfortune and got dangerously close to him.

 “Fuck, Ignis." Gladiolus noticed the gurangatch wanted to charge at Ignis and he placed himself before the fallen mate. The boy band was strictly trained to block the enemy together, so Noctis projected himself near to Gladio and both stopped the incoming attack of the wicked gurangatch.

 They luckily restrained it but its scaly tail hit Ignis. Prompto shouted as if his voice was a strayed bullet. That was it. Ignis felt the adrenaline rising up his body, just like in every dream where you fall off the ground and you can see nothing but darkness. “Highness”, he gasped and tried to get a grasp something. But he didn’t find anything.

 Freezing water from down the river sunk in his skin like needles, as well as the pebbles.  

 Everything went worse as Ignis couldn't find a way out.

 

 · · ·

 

He could feel the warmth returning to his body thanks to the crackling bonfire. Fortunately, he had friends who looked after him during all that time he was unconscious. There were sighs of relief from both Noctis and Prompto, who were patting his back. Ignis was wrapped with more than two blankets. When he released his right arm, he grabbed Prompto’s knee. At the same time, Noctis moved away —all of him driven by pitty.

 “If I were dead, I would have my vision back, indeed. I must thank you for your attention” Ignis broke the ice. His voice felt like an icicle through his throat.

 “W-we… are so sorry, Iggy, “ Prompto muttered. “If only…”

 “You nearly died down there” Gladio didn’t let the blond finish his line. “If only the _princess_ would’ve stopped looking at his reflection on the river, you wouldn’t be soaked by now”

 “What the hell is wrong with you?” Noctis stood up, pushing aside the chair. “It's so fucking easy to blame me, right? "They both faced the other. Everyone could feel the eternal tension between heir and bodyguard. “Ignis fell right under your nose as well”.

 “C’mon now” Gladio chewed and roughly pushed Noctis. “Aren’t you the one with Lucis’ power, your Majesty? The oh-so-fast chosen one of the Sidereal?”

 “Guys, it’s alright… “ Prompto was hit accidentally but that slip wouldn’t stop him to separate them. They ignored him.

 “I'm sick of your jeers, man” The prince showed his teeth. ”I would handle it if you weren't such an asshole.”

 “There’s no need on making such a riff-raff“ Ignis interrupted. You couldn’t tell if it was the shadows the bonfire made or if it was actually Ignis frowning. “I am alive, that is all that matters”.

 "For sure," the blonde nodded. "You've been unconscious for five hours. We were so worried about you..."

 Gladiolus and Noctis stayed away from each other. Prompto kept looking at them with anxiety. Then, everyone was approaching Ignis as he was removing the blankets, one by one.

 “How are you feeling now?“ Noctis began before Gladio let out a snort. “What?” Did he want to start a fight again?

 “Enough” Ignis cut the incoming fight. “I'm afraid we have to put a stop to this nonsense.”

 The only thing that was talking now were the leaves swaying thanks to the breeze. Gladiolus wouldn’t admit it, but he felt slightly ashamed. Ignis folded the blankets and let them rest on his lap. “Bearing this new state of mine is not an easy task, as you know” there was silence again after Ignis talked. “I am going to be honest with you”, he lifted his chin towards the bonfire. “My sight has not improved until this day. And everything points that it won’t”.

 “But…” Prompto nor anyone wanted to believe that. After all, hope is the last thing you give up.

 “I do not want you to be in my place, but considerate things before saying them”, Ignis didn’t want to sound like someone’s mother telling off his children, but he couldn’t help it. “Troubles are no more than trouble” that wouldn’t help anyone. “And, all things considered, it seems like I am the core of every fight”.

 “I know –we all know that if someday you're not comfortable with us anymore, you'll let us know. But I, as the future king, I need you by my side, Ignis." Noctis let out all his thoughts and nobody –not even Gladio, would interrupt him. His decision was as crucial as it was supposed to be from the Chosen One.

 It was a relief that the future king wanted him by his side. Not only because he swore to be with him and guide him, but also because he wouldn’t stand the feeling of failing his friends.

 "We wouldn't have gone this far without you" Gladiolus added.

 Certainly. What would they have done if it wasn’t for his revitalizing food? What about his advices? And his calm voice that eased everyone’s temper?

 "This situation sucks... And I hope things could stay the way they were" Prompto bit his lip, overwhelmed by sentimentality. "But you're not giving up so easily… that's awesome, Iggy.”

 “Those are very kind words.”

 “You deserve the best“ said Noctis.

 If he didn't express his emotions then, he wouldn't find a way to stop those fights. He didn’t want them to get worse, either.

 “I need you to assure something for me, would you?”

 “Spit it out”, Gladio answered, crossing his arms.

 Ignis faced every one of them, calmly, and continued. “Please, do not fight anymore if it is for me. I know we are all tense, and it is completely understandable after all that has occurred. But do not blame friends. Or should I say brothers?”, because that is what they were, in the end. “We have to move forward. Correct my fighting posture or the amount of pepper I use for my recipes, but don’t fight”. He faced who had to be Prompto. Sometimes, he’d stop breathing, but he still could hear his heart bumping. “I will continue asking you, Prompto, to pick up some fruits and spices for me”. Then, he continued with the King’s Shield, who dragged his feet for a moment. “I still need a lot of special training, Gladio”. And finally turned his head towards his prince. “And Noct, of course I will let you know when I reach my limits, which I honestly don’t expect that will ever happen”.

 After a break of five seconds, Ignis insisted. “Did you all understand?“ The camp was silence since he ended his speech.

 "Yes," they replied at the same time.

 "Were you nodding?” Ignis, at this point, had to smile sideways.

 "Oh, yea. Sorry, I guess?" Noctis was really embarrassed this time, but he smiled a bit.

 "We gotta change some things here, dude.” Prompto was the one laughing aloud. Ignis didn’t feel offended, though. In fact, the three of them nodding all at once was a comical situation to picture.

 "What about eatin' something?" Gladio suggested.

 "Something like noodles?" Prompto mocked.

 "What's wrong with that? Easy to cook. Warm and tasty” he could sum up every propriety noodles had, successfully.

 "That's what a noodle fanatic would say" muttered Noctis.

 Gladio glance him. Suddenly, time froze at the camp and Ignis wasn't able to breath. Well, he would sigh of relief if they would forgive themselves.

 "Let me show you the best beef noodles, your Majesty".

 When Ignis got his plans sorted out –that is, having an idea of what they would do the following day– he stood up and cleaned his clothes. He knew that stars were especially beautiful in that spot, but he started to feel the beauty of invisible things and actions. Just like the one that he heard right before he would go to sleep:

 Gladio let Noctis know that he felt sorry about what happened between them. “Let’s not do it again. For Iggy”, Noctis stated.

 “Can’t argue with that”, Gladio patted his shoulder and nodded with determination.

 

. . .

 

"What's the forecast for today?" asked Ignis, approaching his prince's shoulder. On the other hand, he was leaning on his walking stick. That morning, they woke up earlier than ever.

 "Clear sky, no chance of rain”, he somehow managed to do Ignis’ accent, which made him smile widely.

 It was Noctis turn to declare it from now on. Some things were about to change, they already knew that. But others weren't necessarily difficult to accept. “Ready for more?” The prince addressed to the rest.

 That’s how a new day started for the boy band.

**Author's Note:**

> · · ·
> 
> what about a comment to help us improve our writing skills? ^^


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